I know people have talked about getting pounds of skin removed so I am wondering for those who got extra skin removed from the tummy area, were you at goal or just close?

It's really up to you. I was not quite as low as I wanted to be for my plastic surgery but the timing was right so I went for it. If I lose more weight now I will run the risk of having some looser skin later on. I actually had a panniculectomy after I had lost about 80 pounds, so I definitely continued to get more and more loose skin afterwards. My recent surgery (tummy tuck with anchor incision, breast lift with implants, arms lift, mons lift, lipo on the thighs) was after 240 pounds lost. But I knew I needed to have my resculpting surgeries in two stages. I don't regret having the panni much earlier even though it meant that this TT was entirely out of pocket.

Most surgeons want you to be at a stable weight before they will operate on you. Again, this was waived in the case of my panni as I was still losing (I had so much loose skin that my rashes kept getting worse and worse - a very ), but I was at a more or less stable weight for this surgery.

The plastic surgery itself will take off anywhere from a few to more than 10 pounds, but you don't see those results on the scale for some time afterwards due to swelling.

I would say get to the point where you feel comfortable with your body minus the loose skin, and/or to the point that you think will be your lowest.

In direct answer to your question, at the time of my TT I was 15 pounds above my stated goal, which was somewhat arbitrary anyway. I had been at and below my goal but had bounced up for a variety of reasons.

The closer you are to your goal, the better your results will be.

With that said, if the excess skin is a major problem, you may elect to have it removed sooner. I was 215 pounds when I had a tummy tuck/skin removal/hernia surgery 3 months ago. My doctor actually wanted to do it sooner but I wanted to wait until I'd lost 200 pounds. He removed over 12 pounds of excess skin from my abdomen.

For me, it was a great decision and very necessary.

For others, it's always best to follow your doctor's advice.